Judge denies Boston jihad mass murderer's request for broad access to prosecution's files

A federal judge has denied a request from lawyers for Boston Marathon bombing defendant Dzhokhar Tsarnaev for broad access to the prosecution's files in the case.

In an order Wednesday, U.S. District Judge George O'Toole said Tsarnaev was entitled to relevant information in the possession of the government, including information that would relate to his eligibility for the death penalty in the case.

However, O'Toole said Tsarnaev's defense team failed to present any specifics about what they hoped to gain from the government's records.

Tsarnaev "essentially seeks access to the government’s information haystack because he is confident there are useful evidentiary needles to be found there. That is simply not enough to trigger a disclosure obligation..." O'Toole wrote in his nine-page order (posted here).

O'Toole did order prosecutors to turn over any recordings of calls Tsarnaev has made while in custody. He is also entitled under other legal precedents to information in the possession of the government that tends to undermine the notion of his guilt or other evidence in the prosecution's case, the judge noted.

Prosecutors said at a recent hearing that they planned to send their recommendation regarding whether to pursue the death penalty to Attorney General Eric Holder earlier this month. Holder told the Washington Post he plans to make that decision by mid-January. As part of the process, Tsarnaev's lawyers will be allowed to appear before a Justice Department panel and argue that the government should not seek the death penalty.

One potential factor in the death penalty decision: Massachusetts does not have the death penalty in its courts.

Three people, including a eight-year-old child, were killed in the April 15 bombing. Tsarnaev is also charged with conspiring in the shooting death of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer three days later.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2013/11/judge-denies-information-to-alleged-boston-marathon-178484.html

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